Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in a predawn car-ramming attack in the northern West Bank on Monday, one of them seriously, the army said. The force opened fire on the three occupants of the vehicle, killing two and wounding the third.

The ramming occurred at approximately 3:30 a.m. near the village of N’ima, northwest of Ramallah. The army said that “from an initial investigation it appears to have been an attack.”

“Terrorists rammed their vehicle into a number of soldiers who had stopped by the side of the road at the entrance to the village,” the Israel Defense Forces said…

“The troops opened fire on the terrorists. Two of them were neutralized and the third terrorist was lightly injured,” the IDF said, adding that reinforcements were sent to the area…

The Israeli military said the three young Palestinian men had earlier thrown firebombs at a nearby highway.

“In the car in which the terrorists carried out the attack, additional Molotov cocktails were found,” the army said.

During a recent spate of terrorist rocket attacks from Gaza earlier this week, one rocket disrupted a political election rally hosted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister was rushed to safety.